


thanks a latte

by transient_transit



Series: espresso your feelings to me [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M, Philosophy, Road Trips, Stupidity, side joshuaminghao, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 16:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14752494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transient_transit/pseuds/transient_transit
Summary: In a world where it is nigh impossible for a barista to spell another person's name correctly, the one whose name they do is said to be the person who understands them the most, their destined one, their perfect match, their soulmate.Soonyoung squints at his cup. "Mine says 'Soonkyung'.""That's closer than 'Sockbin'. Nicer, too."





	thanks a latte

   
"I want to find my soulmate," exclaims Seokmin one day, sitting up fast and turning to beam eagerly down at Soonyoung, "Let's go on a roadtrip around the country and find our soulmates!"  
   
Soonyoung isn't amused, having been displaced from his previous position with his head resting on Seokmin's stomach where they'd been lying down, eating crackers together. "What do you mean, 'let's find our soulmates?'" He squints at his laptop and rewinds the movie a little.  
   
Seokmin pays him no mind. "I mean, let's go and find the one person that is meant for us! You know how the movies go: the protagonist is just going about his day, he goes to get coffee at his usual café, there's a cute new barista, and when he realises she spelt his name correctly on his coffee cup, they realise they're destined to be together!" He clasps his hands together and sighs happily. "It's so romantic."  
   
Soonyoung sighs, eyeing him. "Just because there's a way to certify you're soulmates with another person through a capitalistic ritual that frankly makes no sense with the way that humanity has evolved doesn't mean we should invoke it on purpose for that one in a million chance."  
   
"But the more cafes we visit, the higher our chances will be! The more coffee we get, the more people we'll have checked our compatibility with!"  
   
"Seokmin, we have five cafés alone in our local mall. How many do you think there are in this entire country?"  
   
"Aww, come on. I didn't mean we should go to every café ever, just most of them! A lot of them. Enough to bring our chances of meeting up to 1% instead of sitting forever desolately at 0.000001%." He grins, simple and easy. "It'll be fun."  
   
Soonyoung harrumphs and gives up on the movie, closing the laptop lid and shoving it an appropriate distance away so that he won't lie on it when he flops onto his side. "Sure, fun, as fun as it was when you wasted $15 dollars worth of empty coffee cups and permanent markers trying a similar shtick when we were seven. I had to drink out of mislabelled cups for a month."  
   
"You still _do_ drink out of mislabelled cups every time you get a coffee, because you haven't found your soulmate," Seokmin points out. Soonyoung scowls.  
   
"That doesn't mean we have to go and find the one person that won't misspell our names. It's not even that big of a deal. And I didn't mind the mislabelling as much as I minded the cups. You picked the worst paper cups to get; they would all start leaking after half an hour. Useless."  
   
"Cheap," Seokmin corrects, "and you were the one who told me that we wouldn't be drinking out of them anyway so it was fine to buy the crappy ones."  
   
Seokmin starts to laugh at the expression on his face so Soonyoung shoves a cracker down his throat to try and shut him up. It doesn't work; he just chews it up, swallows, and keeps talking. "Besides, wouldn't it be cool to go on a trip together, just the two of us? Like camp, but by ourselves. We could eat cake at 4am. We could go swimming if we wanted, or stay up to see the sunrise, or have ice-cream for dinner. We could sleep all day, or not even go to sleep at all. We could-"  
   
"-sit inside playing games or watching TV or browsing the internet all day. We could buy whatever we felt like buying, go wherever we wanted to go, do whatever we wanted to do," Soonyoung finishes, eyes wide.  
   
Seokmin grins at him. "Now you're getting it."

  


_________________ 

  
  


Seokmin forgets the conversation until a year, five days, and eight hours later when Soonyoung takes him round the back of his house and shows him the campervan.  
   
"I was thinking about it," he says, a little embarrassed but pleased with himself, "I was thinking about it for the longest time but then I realised. We can both drive, high school is gonna be over, we're going to university, might as well make the most of it now while we can." He cuts off with a squeak as Seokmin wraps him up in a bear hug, cheering. "Okay, okay, I'm glad you like it."  
   
"I do!" Seokmin assures him, smiling his big sunny smile, all teeth and cheeks and crinkled eyes, "I love it so much Soonyoung thank you so much it'll be amazing I promise thank you!"  
   
Soonyoung laughs and watches him make a beeline for the van's living area, exploring all the nooks and crannies and making fascinated noises. After having had trouble finding a way to go on a long roadtrip while at the same time not using up his entire life's worth of savings, Soonyoung's uncle had approached him and offered use of his family's campervan, telling him to treat it as his graduation gift to both of them.  
   
"We're really doing it, huh?" says Seokmin, turning around slowly and taking in the campervan in its enormity, "We're really going to do this."  
   
Soonyoung comes up behind him and slings an arm over his shoulders. "Yeah," he says simply.  
   
There's no response, so after a moment Soonyoung nudges him with his shoulder. "How are you feeling?"  
   
They've been friends long enough that Soonyoung knows when Seokmin stands a bit straighter and says "Good," he's lying just a little. Seokmin's always been more of a worrier than him, always been a little less daring, but that's not a bad thing.  
   
Besides, Soonyoung is a little scared too. He covers it up by clapping Seokmin on the shoulder and pulling him a little closer so they can lean on each other, like they've always done.

  


_________________ 

  
  


They set off together one late afternoon because Soonyoung's a lazy asshole and Seokmin won't stop nagging him until he gets up. The weather is good, their bellies are full with the their last meal from home for a while, and Soonyoung's finally gotten the radio to work (although it's stuck on some oldies channel) so it's to the soulful foreign tune of some singer that they finally turn onto the major highway leading north. It's not too different from previous trips they've gone on together, but the probability that this one will last a very long time makes it feel weightier, makes every mile that passes under their tyres feel longer somehow, makes them feel farther away from home than they really are.  
   
Seokmin stares out the window as they go along the roads, watching familiar places flicker past them one after another. There's the restaurant where he ate that godawful burger that one time, there's the road that leads to his grandmother's place, there's the park where he used to play when he was a child. Soon, there'll be no more familiar places and everything he sees from then on will be new and unknown.  
   
Soonyoung keeps his eyes on the road (as he should). He drives calm and measured, with no outward indications that he's thinking of anything much, just the hum of the engine and the press of the pedals against his feet. But Seokmin knows him, and the way he keeps his hands almost stiffly on the wheel instead of letting them drop to his lap when they reach a red light gives him away. He doesn't even make a single joke to Seokmin, not even when they pass that one sports gear store with the dubious name.  
   
The map spread on the dashboard flaps a bit in the wind when Seokmin rolls his window down for some air. Soonyoung had insisted on using a real map instead of the GPS that lies switched off in the glovebox, because a real map would "get us to bond as a navigator and a driver". Unfortunately, the problem with this is that the map is _enormous_ and awfully unwieldy; it takes Seokmin three tries to pin enough of it down so that it stops threatening to slap him in the face.  
   
The mood is a little off. They're not usually this quiet or this subdued, especially when they're doing something that's supposed to be fun together. It's a holiday with just the two of them; they could stand to look a little more pleased about it, but something feels like it's hanging, unspoken and invisible and somber between them. The radio continues to warble in their silence, accompanied only by the clicks of the dash whenever Soonyoung signals a turn.  
   
Turning away, Seokmin leans his elbow on the windowsill and slumps further down in his seat, letting the wind run through his hair and mess it up. He can sense the tyres of the van running on the road underneath him, speeding up and slowing down and carrying him along with them. The feeling of movement is present even when he closes his eyes, the feeling of going on a journey.  
   
There's a much louder click, different to all the previous ones, and Seokmin glances at Soonyoung in surprise as the singer cuts off in the middle of a long, quavering note.  
   
"I got sick of it," says Soonyoung, by way of explanation, and smiles a bit sheepishly at him. Seokmin finds himself smiling back, and suddenly the weird feeling that's been between them just sort of dissipates, easy as that.  
   
"He _was_ dragging that out a bit long, wasn't he?"  
   
"Way too long," agrees Soonyoung, and snickers when Seokmin begins to imitate the singer, complete with dramatic sweeps of his arm exaggerated facial expressions.  
   
"This is a lot different from what I imagined, actually," Seokmin finds himself saying, a while after they've both recovered their breath, "this is a lot more… planned and sensible and going on this trip was a lot scarier than I expected it to be."  
   
He can hear Soonyoung mulling it over as he checks behind them for cars and changes lanes. "Yeah?"  
   
"I- no," Seokmin frowns,"that's not quite right. I don't know what I imagined, really. I just didn't expect it to be such a big… thing." The shapes in the side mirror are passing by one by one, gradually shrinking and disappearing beyond the curve of the road. He wonders when he'll see them again. If he'll ever see them again. "I guess I didn't really think it through the first time around. I was way too caught up in thinking about all the fun." He glances at Soonyoung. "I'm glad we're going on this trip, though."  
   
Soonyoung smiles back, a little uncertainly. "Me too. I just hope nothing bad happens that we don't expect, and it turns out to not be amazing at all."

"How could it possibly not be amazing? Come on, it's me and you," Seokmin teases, playfully nudging Soonyoung's knee. He softens. "You did amazing preparing this whole thing. It's going to be the best, I'm sure of it. Besides, even if it isn't fun, I bet you and I could still make it fun."  
   
Soonyoung smiles. "I'm glad you're here with me. That out of everyone, it's you." He pauses. "But do you want to go back? There's still time. "He looks at Seokmin. "We can still turn back."  
   
"No. I don't."

  


_________________ 

  
  


"I would like a grande venti cappuccino macchiato latte?"  
   
The barista stares at them, bewildered. They'd been travelling along for a few hours without much issue (more due to helpful locals than Seokmin's map-reading skills) towards the next big town when Soonyoung had perked up from his slouch in the driver's seat and exclaimed, "is that a café?"  
   
It was. Luckily, said cafe isn't very busy at the moment, so the only person Soonyoung's holding up is Seokmin. "I'm sorry, we don't do those," she says after a moment's pause, "would you like to pick something else? Here's our menu," and hands him a laminated guide with step-by-step instructions on how to choose a drink.  
   
Seokmin comes up and peers over his shoulder. There's a pause as they both take in the size and scope of the sheet. "This is... more complicated than I expected," he mumbles after a moment, "you can have syrup? What's a milk base?"  
   
His brain can't make sense of what his eyes are seeing no matter how long he stares, so Soonyoung knows what he must do. He leaves the guide with Seokmin and steps up to the counter for the second time, trying to exude a confidence he doesn't feel. "I want that," he says, and points to a random cup of liquid depicted on the limited time offer stand on the side of the counter.  
   
"Name?"  
   
"Soonyoung."  
   
"Okay. Ten dollars, please, your order will be given to you over there," says the barista, pointing to another counter on the side.  
   
Soonyoung does as he's told, feeling vaguely robbed but unsure as to why.  
   
Behind him, Seokmin is approaching the counter hesitantly. "Can I get a tall latte with a shot of vanilla syrup and whipped cream please?"  
   
"Yeah, sure," says the barista, "Name?"  
   
"Seokmin." He hands her less money than Soonyoung did and joins him over at the other counter.  
   
"How'd you do that?" asks Soonyoung, surprised.  
   
"Uh, I followed the instructions on the guide."  
   
"You understood those?" Their conversation is cut off as a different barista approaches the counter, wiping down a huge plastic cup with a cloth.  
   
"This is for… Sonyoung? Limited edition hot cross bun iced latte with java chips? Order number 217?"  
   
Is that what he'd bought? "That's me, I think. Thank you."  
   
He waits for "Soekmin" to collect his order before moving to a free table by the window, sitting down and taking a cautious sip of the contents of his cup.  
   
It's… strange. Soonyoung isn't sure exactly what he's tasting. Were there biscuit pieces in here or something? "How's yours?" he asks Seokmin, who licks some cream off the end of his straw and purses his lips thoughtfully.  
   
"Good. I like it."  
   
Soonyoung stares. "Gimme."  
   
Seokmin passes his cup across without complaint, and Soonyoung sucks up his drink greedily. It _is_ good, much better than.. whatever's in his own cup. It tastes like ice cream. It's so good. He never wants to go back.  
   
"Yours isn't bad either," Seokmin notes, crunching on the unknown pieces.  
   
There's still hope, Soonyoung realises suddenly. He directs the most piteous look he can at Seokmin, widens his eyes and tries to make his lower lip wobble.  
   
"You don't like yours?"  
   
Soonyoung shakes his head without breaking eye contact. His eyes are watering a little with the effort of keeping them open for so long.  
   
"Ah… we can swap if you want?"  
   
"Thank you you're the best ever!" crows Soonyoung and leans back in his chair to sip at the superior drink that is now _his_ drink, satisfied.  
   
Seokmin laughs a little. He's holding the cup in a way that makes it look like maybe Soonyoung's name is spelt correctly under his fingers; maybe the large flat single O is actually two, written in his soulmate's messy, loopy script. "Ah, you always squish Os together into such a small space," Soonyoung would say as his soulmate handed the drink over, "Would it hurt to let them have some more space between each other?"  
   
"No way," his soulmate would reply, grinning cheekily at him, "to me those Os are like me and you. We're meant to be together."  
   
The illusion breaks when Seokmin shifts his cup to his other hand, shaking the wet one slightly and rubbing his numbed fingers together. Soonyoung smiles ruefully at himself.  
   
The cup gives him an idea, though. He sticks out his own hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Soekmin."  
   
Seokmin catches on easily. His cold hand shakes Soonyoung's. "Ah, hello, my name is Sonyoung."  
   
"What do you do for a living, Sonyoung?"  
   
"I make coffee."  
   
"Oh, is that so?"  
   
"Yes."  
   
"Did you make this coffee, Sonyoung?" asks Soonyoung, indicating towards his cup.  
   
"Yes, I did."  
   
"It was awful."  
   
"It was-?!" Seokmin's eyes widen in surprise, and he tries to hold back his laughter so he won't break character. "I see. I'm sorry. I'll do better next time."  
   
Soonyoung stifles his giggles into his hand. "I'm looking forward to it."  
   
"Please anticipate the new and improved me."  
   
"Yes."  
   
"What about you then, Soekmin?" challenges Seokmin, "What do you do?"  
   
"I travel around the world for my work."  
   
"Ah, is that so?"  
   
"Yes."  
   
"So what is your work?"  
   
"Oh, um. My work? I travel around a lot for it," hedges Soonyoung, biting his lip as his shoulders shake with the effort of trying not to laugh.  
   
Seokmin is hunched over with his arms pressed against his stomach. "For your work? What is it?" he manages.  
   
"It requires a lot of travelling," gasps Soonyoung, then dissolves into cackles. Seokmin whimpers quietly and also gives up, resting his forehead on the table as he laughs.

  


_________________ 

  
  


   
"It's the beach!" Soonyoung yells at no-one in particular as he gallivants down the hill towards the sand, "I can see the ocean!"  
   
It's hardly the first time they've ever been, but Soonyoung's love of beaches is ever enduring and he always acts like it's been decades when in reality the last time he'd seen sand was three months ago on a family trip. Seokmin had been the driver this time when Soonyoung had sat up straight and pointed, a wordless yell tumbling out of his throat and straight into Seokmin's eardrums. He'd barely finished parking before Soonyoung had yanked open the door and started running down the hill towards the sea.  
   
Still, Seokmin has always humoured him as he humours him now, watches with amusement as Soonyoung throws himself down on the sand, flips over onto his back and starts moving his arms and legs like he's trying to make a snow angel. "The weather's so nice," he says, grinning cheesily up at Seokmin who's finally caught up to him, "It's so sunny and bright. I love it."  
   
Seokmin grins back at him, his happiness infectious, then gets on his knees abruptly and begins to shovel sand across Soonyoung's torso, laughing as he flails and tries to push him off.  
   
"You're getting sand into my mouth!"  
   
"You should stop talking, then!"  
   
The sun is warm across the back of Seokmin's neck as Soonyoung chases him halfway across the beach, trying to tackle him so he can stuff sand down his shirt. Sunbathers lying dotted everywhere between the surf and the fast food restaurants make for a good obstacle course, but Soonyoung has always been the faster runner and corners him eventually at the edge of the ocean. The offended expression Soonyoung makes when Seokmin splashes him in the face is worth the gross, slimy feeling of the wet sand running down his back, but it's all quickly forgotten when one of them loses his balance and topples into the sea, laughing as he drags the other one down with him to have their first bath since hitting the road.  
   
Neither of them had thought to bring a swimming costume, but neither of them really care and just dive in, racing each other out towards the horizon until Soonyoung's feet can't touch the bottom anymore. Then they swim together, lazily breaststroking along parallel to the beach and just enjoying the sensation of water on a mildly hot day. They're both pretty good swimmers, their childhood summers having been spent together in their local pool splashing one another and doing stupid stunts, but still Seokmin watches Soonyoung and Soonyoung watches Seokmin and they don't go out very far. The shore is within easy reach, and when they finally get tired Seokmin loses the game of rock scissors paper so he's the one that has to fetch their towels from the van, jogging on the spot to keep warm as he fumbles with the keys. The line for the public showers is blessedly short, as is the line for the men's bathroom. Soonyoung finishes changing first and offers Seokmin his water bottle, laughing when he spits it out and tries to get rid of the salty taste by licking his own towel.  
   
The sun smears the clear sky in a gradient of reds and yellows as Soonyoung and Seokmin smear the corner of their mouths with tomato and barbeque sauce, lured by the smell coming from the fast food restaurants on the boardwalk. Their food disappears much too quickly so they order more, and finish that too. Then comes a coffee each and finding their way down the steps to look for a bare patch of sand.  
   
"Mine says 'Soonkyung'."  
   
"That's closer than 'Sockbin'. Nicer, too."  
   
It gets dark faster than either of them expect but that's okay, their home is only a few metres away, parked diagonally to the kerb, and Seokmin's checked his pockets a dozen times so he knows that the keys are in there for sure. The sea breeze gets colder as night creeps up on them but neither of them want to go back to the van, not when it's so nice out here, all the stars in the sky brighter and the sound of the waves a gentle crash in the background.  
   
Soonyoung sneezes.  
   
Between all two and a half days of driving and all the coffee taste-testing they've been doing, they haven't really had much time to be quiet and just take in the surroundings of where they are. It feels so lovely just to lie down on the sand together and be in each other's presence.  
   
Unfortunately, there are also ants present, and an anthill, so they get up hurriedly, dust themselves off, and move a bit to the left before lying down again. A rock digs into Seokmin's spine, but it's pretty comfortable after he fishes it out and throws it away somewhere into the darkness.  
   
"Ah, look up there! It's the constellation Aries," says Soonyoung.  
   
"What are you saying…"  
   
"Aries. The star sign."  
   
"Do you even know how to tell which stars are which?"  
   
"Look, the thing is like three dots in a row. I'm sure that that could reasonably be Aries."  
   
"…"  
   
"Okay, fine. Look over there then, it's Sirius the Dog Star."  
   
"Is it?"  
   
"Sirius is the brightest star, yeah? So it's probably that one. Looks the brightest."  
   
"Isn't that a lamp?" 

"Okay, fine, Sirius is over _there_."  
   
There's sand in his armpit, he's pretty sure. Seokmin scratches it, but it feels like he just adds to the amount of sand. Somehow.  
   
"I love the stars. When you look at them, you really feel like you're super small compared to the universe," says Seokmin.  
   
"Uh huh."  
   
"There's so many of them as well. Doesn't it make you feel like you're only one in millions?"  
   
"Uh huh."  
   
"There's so many stars. Imagine there being something living on all of those stars and all of those planets in all of the universe."  
   
"Please just shut up."  
   
"Right."  
   
Seokmin pushes himself up to lean on his elbow. The moonlight reflects off the waves as they come rolling in one by one to break on the faraway shore, lighting up the entire beach with an eerie, ghostly glow. The ripples in the water distort the moon's reflection, the sea a dark mirror of the night sky and its the lights that reach through time and space to brighten up the earth.  
   
Soonyoung sneezes again. "God, it's so cold. Wanna go back?"  
   
"Yes! Uh, I mean, I love the stars but-"  
   
"Come on. Let's go."

  


_________________ 

  
  


"I don't even _like_ coffee," says Soonyoung, mournfully sniffing at his cup. Out of the thirteen cups of coffee he'd bought that morning, he'd only drunk two-thirds of the first.  
   
Conversely, Seokmin had finished twelve out of his thirteen, and was now looking quite queasy.  
   
"I'll be right back…" he mutters in Soonyoung's general direction, and toddles off to the bathroom for the fifth time in an hour. Left alone, Soonyoung leans back in his chair and wonders if they shouldn't just quit while they're ahead.  
   
They'd slept in their campervan for the first time yesterday, after having driven and driven until they'd realised they were literally carrying a home with them and could go to bed anytime they pleased. So when they saw the next rest stop, Seokmin had parked and they'd then tried to go about the business of setting up a night in the van.  
   
It had turned out to be more complicated than either of them expected. Soonyoung's suspended bed had been downright enigmatic until they'd found the manual that his uncle had compiled wedged into the back of one of the cupboards. It had only taken them fifteen minutes and three injured fingers from there to get it down, and then another half an hour of taking turns to pee outside in the bushes before they got into bed proper. Then, after all that, Soonyoung had lain awake for ages hearing the squeaks and rustling noises outside the van near trees and startling whenever any of them got too close. To say he hadn't slept well was probably a bit of an understatement.  
   
Then, this morning, they'd been woken up at the crack of dawn by the sun because they'd both forgotten to close the curtains. Seokmin had been okay with it, preferring instead to optimistically take the chance to snap a few pretty pictures of the sunrise and cheerily suggesting they get breakfast at the café that had been advertised on the billboard across the road (and then coffee at the next one, and the next one, and the one after that).  
   
It reminded him a little of when they'd gone on a school camping trip and roomed together. Soonyoung had heard Seokmin sleeptalk for the first time and had been completely unable to sleep the first night, jumping whenever Seokmin spoke. The next morning had been awful because Seokmin had wanted to finally start having adventures but Soonyoung had of course been way too tired to do more than stare after him dumbly as his sleep-deprived brain tried to catch up with the proceedings.  
   
But he'd known it was Seokmin that was making the noise at that time, Seokmin who was his best friend and not some unknown bloodthirsty beast who probably wanted to eat his face. Their second night together had been fine because Soonyoung had known what to expect and busied his ears with music from his phone instead, and the third night he'd even begun to find it funny, replying seriously to the sleeptalking and getting even more absurd nonsense back. He'd never really had anything to fear.  
   
Out here, though, there were only the thin walls of the van to protect him from the lurking monsters. And although present-day Soonyoung is no longer sleepy now due to the effects of the (part of the) coffee he'd drunk, his crankiness remains.  
   
"Who decided that coffee was the beverage of choice, anyway? Wouldn't it be better if the destined drink was Coke, or milkshakes, or even water? Coffee's just roasted bean water, what's so great about it?" he grumbles under his breath as he empties yet another sachet of sugar into his cup, tapping and shaking it slightly to get the last few granules out.  
   
He's still trying to stir in the excess sugar in when Seokmin returns to collapse in the seat opposite him, looking drained and vaguely regretful.  
   
"You okay?"  
   
"I have to finish it," mumbles Seokmin reluctantly, staring at the remaining liquid in the cup, "it'd be a waste if I didn't." He makes no move towards it, however.  
   
Soonyoung eyes him over his concoction of 80% sugar. "Don't push yourself too much. This is supposed to be enjoyable, remember?"  
   
"Uh huh."  
   
"Don't drink it if you don't want to."  
   
"Uh huh."  
   
Outside, the cars are speeding past the café, solid blocks of colour. The sounds of the road are distant from where they're sitting inside, muted by the big glass windows. They haven't gone very far yet today, only a few blocks or so down from the rest stop. Most of the afternoon's just been spent waiting for their order and watching Seokmin stare down the contents of his cup of coffee, like looking at it was going to make it drink itself. According to an employee a few cafés back, though, the next town is still quite a distance away so they should probably get going while there's still a lot of daylight left.  
   
Soonyoung tilts his cup experimentally and makes a face at the grainy, unappetising sludge formed by the undissolved sugar at the bottom of his cup. He turns around and pushes it through the flap of the nearest bin with a wince just as Seokmin finally psyches himself up enough and knocks the rest of his cup back like a shot, squeezing his eyes shut.  
   
"How have you not died or gotten a heart attack from all that coffee?" Soonyoung wonders idly, pushing himself up from his chair.  
   
"Oh, I asked for decaf after the third one."  
   
"…makes sense."  
   
"Yeah. Can you drive? I don't think my stomach likes what I've done to it."  
   
The next few hours are quiet, punctuated only by Seokmin's groans as he shifts in his seat and his frequent requests for the van to stop somewhere so he could go discreetly into the bushes on the side of the road. Soonyoung makes a game out of seeing what he can find in the depths of the surprisingly large glove compartment every time Seokmin goes until he strikes gold and digs up the mix-CD that Seokmin made him for his tenth birthday ("like a mixtape, but a CD"), which he immediately slots into the van's CD player. A few more toilet trips later, Seokmin perks up enough to start pointing out interesting stores they're passing so it's to some nostalgic pop music and their off-key voices that they finally turn into a supermarket parking lot.  
   
It feels exciting to shop for necessities themselves, even though their parents must do it pretty often. Or maybe that's why—it feels like they're finally something like adults, independent and going grocery shopping by themselves. That was something adults did, wasn't it?  
   
Still, Soonyoung and Seokmin only get so far with shopping for important things before they cave. A quick flash of Seokmin's fingers, and there's a bag of lollies in the cart. Soonyoung pretends not to notice, and tells himself it's only evening things out when he sees a packet of chocolate biscuits he really likes and adds that too. One cart turns into one cart each, and before he knows it, he's got five different types of ice cream and six different brands of frozen cheesecake.  
   
Reluctantly, he puts some back. He's pretty sure their freezer isn't that big. Actually, come to think of it, their whole campervan probably isn't that big, so Soonyoung goes looking for Seokmin and finds him staring, wide-eyed, at a display of instant noodles.  
   
"It's on sale," he breathes, fingers twitching convulsively as his hand gravitates towards the noodles like he can't help it, "it's so cheap... Soonyoung. Thank god you're here. Help me get some of this into the cart."  
   
"Oh, okay, yeah, get some of that. But don't buy anything else, I don't know if we have enough room for it in the van."  
   
"Yeah, yeah, sure," says Seokmin distractedly, already grabbing packages, "I'll wait for you at the cash registers then?"  
   
"Yup. Oh, I think we forgot to get drinks. I'll go get some and meet you there." That settled, Soonyoung wanders off to have a look and carefully picks out their favourite drinks. If he also gets a few extra treats on the way, well, Seokmin had probably been too preoccupied to notice what he'd already had in his cart anyway.  
   
The first time Soonyoung gets an inkling that this had been a bad idea is when he goes to pay and Seokmin isn't waiting for him at the cash register. He isn't in the aisle with the noodles, either, nor does he seem to be in the entire store. Soonyoung's about to ask someone to call Seokmin on the loudspeaker like a lost child or something when he finally sees him waving at him from _beyond_ the cash registers, filled shopping bags on either side of him.  
   
Surely he hadn't paid already?  
   
As much as he tries to deny it, however, Soonyoung knows the truth in his heart. He makes a silent vow to never let Seokmin out of his sight in a grocery store again as he moves through the line at the cash register, agonisingly slowly, inch by inch. Finally, his share is paid for, and Soonyoung can turn his attention onto the disaster.  
   
"How much did you buy, exactly?"  
   
"I was thinking that it would save us having to eat out a lot," chirps Seokmin, completely oblivious to Soonyoung's current state of mind, "so I made sure to get enough for both of us for ages!"  
   
"Are you sure we can eat all _that_?"  
   
"Do you think I should've bought more, then?"  
   
"What? No!"  
   
"But shouldn't we stock up a little? Don't you ever just get hungry at 2am but you're not bothered to make something fancy?"  
   
"It's too much! We could've gotten some other stuff. Which flavours did you get?"  
   
"Beef and chicken."  
   
"Only?"  
   
"This brand only comes in two flavours."  
   
Soonyoung passes a hand through his hair and sighs. "We could've done with a bit more variety."  
   
"You say that, but all the drinks you got are just Coke in different sizes."  
   
"That's not the same thing!"

  


_________________ 

  
  


"I almost thought she had it, too," he says mournfully, staring at the latest cup of coffee, labelled "Seokmim", "I watched as she turned that final n into an m. So close."  
   
Soonyoung comes back, crabby, with a cup boldly labelled "ZOONUN" in marker across the side. "Not even close," he grouses, setting the cup down onto their table with more force than was probably necessary. Some coffee sloshes out the sides to dribble down messily and pool around the base of the cup in the saucer, and Soonyoung gives it such a glare of annoyance that Seokmin is almost convinced that the faint steam coming off it is from the heat of his glare. " _Zoonun_. What kind of name is Zoonun?"  
   
"Maybe it's for a nun who lives at a zoo," suggests Seokmin, then hastily buries his nose in his cup as Soonyoung turns the annoyed look on him. He doesn't even deign to say anything, just begins his customary ritual of divesting their table of its sugar packets with extreme prejudice. Behind him, a customer watches him add packet after packet with an extremely shocked and offended expression.  
   
"Someone'll do better at the next place," Seokmin reassures, though he's not sure what "better" really means. "Don't give up."  
   
Soonyoung stares at him. "Doesn't this seem to you like we're just raking our hands through the sand on a beach? Hoping that we'll get the right beach at the right time of day for the tide, that we're digging at the right depth in the right place for the right grain of sand. There are 7 billion people on our planet, how are we supposed to just happen across "the one"? We can't even visit every beach or search every grain of sand, there's just too many. Maybe we'd have a chance if we could pay for an expert to help us or something, but we can't even do that. How much of a chance do we really have, if you put all that together?"  
   
He doesn't sound angry, just kind of blank and a little overwhelmed, so Seokmin knows not to take it to heart and merely says, "But looking on even just one beach is better than not looking at all, isn't it? If it doesn't work out, it's fine, we'd have tried. I think I'd like to have tried. Even if we don't succeed, I want to have tried."  
   
"But the chance is so small, the possibility is so small-"  
   
"But it's not zero."  
   
Soonyoung's always been the more practical one between them, and he closes his mouth with an unhappy expression.  
   
"Besides, this doesn't have to be about them. It can be about us. Me and you, having fun. If we don't find them, that's okay, we still have each other, we can still go places and play and have the time of our lives. It's not-" He cuts off as the customer from earlier marches up to them and taps Soonyoung on the shoulder.  
   
"Hi, I'm sorry to disturb you but do you know what real coffee's like? It's not like that. You're supposed to drink coffee with no sugar, preferably. You just put around eight. That's not proper. You're ruining the taste of the beans."  
   
Incredulous, Soonyoung turns around. "Excuse me? It's my coffee, I bought it so I can drink it however I want."  
   
"Yes, but this is a café that makes organic, artisan coffee that's free of additional chemical compounds. Don't come here if you're just going to add buckets of sugar, go to some other place that sells the kind of crap you wouldn't mind putting into your body."  
   
Soonyoung looks them dead in the eyes and empties another packet of sugar into his coffee.  
   
"Let's just leave," says Seokmin, and pushes past the customer to drag Soonyoung out of the café.  
   
"That wasn't very fun," says Soonyoung as they make their way across the street to the campervan, "You said it would be cool to experience a fancy coffeeshop that only sold the fanciest coffee. It cost twice as much and tasted the same as everything else everywhere else that we've gone."  
   
"I was curious, and I thought it'd be fun to have a change of pace for once. I guess not," sighs Seokmin. "Hey, you wanna take a toilet break or are you ready to go?"  
   
He turns around, but Soonyoung's already gone around the front and is waiting expectantly for him to unlock the doors of the camper van. "Okay. Going it is," Seokmin mumbles to himself, and gets into the driver's seat.  
   
Twenty minutes into their trip, Soonyoung is still scowling and hasn't even messed around with the map or tried to impersonate any of the drivers they've passed like usual. He just sits with his arms crossed staring fixedly out the window, and even the mix-CD doesn't seem to help his mood no matter how many times Seokmin tries to crack his voice in funny ways on purpose.  
   
What was it Soonyoung had said? About what their chances were of finding your soulmate, about how they were like trying to find one specific grain of sand in the midst of many, about the sheer impossibility of it all.  
   
Still, soulmates did meet each other. Soulmates did find each other. It was definitely not impossible.  
   
Fifteen minutes later, Seokmin pulls up to a small coffee shop and says, "Hey. Let's get the most impure, offensive coffee possible, one that that customer back there would faint if they saw."  
   
Soonyoung almost smiles.  
   
He saves it for when they're sitting in the shop and Seokmin tells him an affogato means "drowned" in Italian and that it comes with a scoop of ice cream.  
   
"No way."  
   
"Yes way."  
   
"May I take your order?"  
   
"Two affogatos, please!"  
   
They're the only customers in the shop, so their order arrives fairly soon. Soonyoung casts a brief glance at the receipt where the barista's written both of their names. "'Woonyoung' and 'Sootmine'. Wow. Yours is way off."  
   
He looks at Seokmin, who's pouring his coffee over his ice cream, unconcerned. "Do you think that the closer to your actual name they spell it, the more compatible you are with each other?"  
   
Seokmin thinks of nights spent up late on the computer scrolling down article after article and says, "There's been a lot of studies done, but the results are mostly inconclusive. Compatibility is a hard thing to define, apparently, because very different people can still be good together as partners, and very similar people can still be awful to each other. It depends a lot more on the specifics of each situation, so it's hard to pin down exactly what it is about each individual relationship that makes it work."  
   
"Huh. That's…" He pauses. "You seem to have done your research."  
   
"My habit of going down super deep internet rabbit holes right before an assignment is due comes in handy sometimes. Soulmates have always been an interesting topic to me."  
   
"I know."  
   
"What we do know is that since you and your soulmate both have to understand each other super well, chances are very high you'll come into direct contact," continues Seokmin, feigning nonchalance, "so even if it doesn't happen on this trip, you still have time. Time to grow older, and therefore more time to meet your soulmate. The end of this trip isn't the end of the period where you can discover them, and even if it was you can't control fate and circumstance and coincidence. Things will happen if by chance they do, and the only thing you can do is increase your chances. Even just one more possibility is better than one less.  
   
"That's what I think, anyway," he finishes hastily, and shoves a spoon of affogato into his mouth to stop himself from overdoing it. Soonyoung is eyeing him over a spoonful of his own ice cream, dragging the spoon out slowly from between his lips thoughtfully.  
   
"It's a good thing I like beaches then I guess," he says finally. "I'll think about that."  
   
Seokmin nods, relieved. Soonyoung's probably already figured that something was up but decided to go with it. "Yeah. Wait, are you done eating?"  
   
"Yep. I figure that just eating the ice cream and shunning the coffee altogether is the best revenge I could get."

  


_________________ 

  
  


Soonyoung dyes his hair on a whim one afternoon after they've arrived at the town—or rather, he bleaches it with something he found in one of the nearby dollar stores, fails to get it to the pale blond he'd envisioned, and gives up. It goes a brassy orange, for some reason, and Seokmin finds him squinting at a mirror with his arms braced on the kitchen sink, shaking the hair out of his eyes and the water out of his hair.  
   
"Damn," says Soonyoung, squinting, then, "I'm going to the shops. Wanna come?"  
   
Seokmin doesn't have anything else in particular he wanted to do, so they lock up the campervan and meander down to the closest supermarket together, a cap on Soonyoung's head to hide his copper hair. Inside, Soonyoung picks out a couple of chip packets, some chocolate biscuits, and, shrugging, the brightest shade of orange dye on the shelf. "Might as well go all the way since I'm already here," he says, and gets up from where he's been crouching to get a closer look at the colours.  
   
It's been threatening to rain since that morning, so there's nobody around when Seokmin follows Soonyoung back out onto the streets. His friend is humming a little, swinging the plastic bag idly as he walks, playfully stepping along the cracks of the pavement. They don't seem to be going in the right direction to head back to the caravan, but that's okay, he doesn't really mind and it's nice to just take a walk without really having a destination in mind. It's almost picturesque, the scene of the shops and the library and the city centre all empty of its usual crowds, huddling under a washed-out sky.  
   
The wind is strong but Seokmin has always favoured warmer clothes and Soonyoung had needed to wear something to shield his back from his dripping hair, so the chill doesn't really bother them even when they reach the edge of the sea. It does, however, blow off Soonyoung's cap one too many times, and he ends up stuffing it into the pocket of his hoodie rather than try to keep it on.  
   
The beach is different like this, the grey storm clouds stretching as far as the eye could see when before they'd only seen a smooth, endless blue. It tastes the same, though, the slight salty tang on the tip of his tongue when he licks his dry lips. But the sand is bare of people today, and cool to the touch when Seokmin puts his hand on it to brace himself so he can sit down next to Soonyoung.  
   
The quiet is nice. Soonyoung wiggles a little closer so they can touch their shoulders together, rests his forearms on both his knees and Seokmin's to stare out at the sea. It's just water but there's so much of it, pulling into itself then pushing forward again onto the beach, taking with it grains of sand and pieces of shell with its steady, rhythmic motion. Near the rocks, a couple of gulls are picking their way over the sand, searching for remnants of dropped food. One of them finds something and takes flight, the others winging their way after it and cawing.  
   
"Do you really think we'll find them?"  
   
The question comes out of the blue, but Seokmin gets it. "Our soulmates?"  
   
"Yeah. You suggested this trip because you thought we'd find them, and now we're here, trying to find them. Do you still believe it'll work out, for even just one of us? Do you think so?"  
   
Seokmin considers this.  
   
"I don't know," he says simply. "I don't know if we will any more than you do."  
   
Soonyoung digs his fingers into the sand in front of him and drags them back, carving crooked furrows between his ankles. Seokmin watches him in silence.  
   
"Like you said before, we have a lot of time. I think you're right. I think it's okay. I think- I don't think we can control if we find our soulmates. But it's okay. I think." He stop and flops backwards into the sand, groaning. "What even are soulmates?"  
   
It's a rhetorical question, but Seokmin answers him anyway. "Science says that your soulmate is whoever 'understands you the most', whatever that means for you personally, and whatever form that takes. Understanding you could make them love you and become your best friend, or it could make them hate you and become your worst enemy. Sometimes soulmates don't even want anything to do with each other and agree to avoid each other for the rest of their lives because understanding each other so thoroughly makes each other too difficult to live with."  
   
Soonyoung doesn't say anything, just puts his arm across his eyes and sighs. "That's so hard, though."  
   
"It is."  
   
"So even if we find our soulmate, we might not even like them. Just understand them really well."  
   
"Yeah."  
   
They're both quiet for a bit, then Soonyoung sits up, fast, the sand cascading out of his hair. He's got a rock in his hand and pitches it as hard as he can towards the ocean as he comes up. "Yah!"  
   
It's probably not the easiest to throw something while you're trying to sit up at the same time, and they both watch as it goes higher than it goes wide, landing right before the shoreline with a pathetic plop. Seokmin just looks at him.  
   
Soonyoung looks back, then blurts, "I can skip rocks! I had a friend who taught me."  
   
"Uh huh."  
   
"Don't say that like you don't believe me." He sees something in Seokmin's gaze then, probably, because he adds quietly, "There's no use thinking about it, is there? If it happens it happens and if it doesn't it won't." He shrugs, looks down at his hands and the grains of sand stuck to his skin. Seokmin smiles at him, sympathetically, and reaches over to dust off the remaining specks of yellow from the back of his head. Then, he picks up a rock as well.  
   
The slow creep of the waves up the shore is the only thing that marks the passing of time as they throw rocks at the ocean, laughing at each others' failed attempts. They're there for so long that eventually the sea is but a few feet away from them, licking higher and higher each time the waves come. It gets windier and windier as well, whipping up the water and the blowing the spray into their faces each time they turn to toss another rock. They squint and squint, rubbing the seawater from their eyes, until they finally agree to mutually give it up.  
   
Soonyoung stands up first and dusts himself off briskly, but he's got a rock in his hand. "Watch this," he says, smirking, and makes some elaborate hand movements before doing a high kick and tossing it towards the water. The rock bounces once before flipping up high into the air and sinking into the sea with a plop. Soonyoung cheers and throws his arms into the air.  
   
Seokmin turns to him, mouth agape. "Oh my god you can actually skip rocks? Teach me!"  
   
"…to be honest, I just threw it as hard as I could and hoped that it would bounce."  
   
The rim of his cap looks a little orange around the edges when Soonyoung puts it back on, pulling it low so he can hide as much of his hair as possible though by now, Seokmin's pretty much already gotten used to the colour and the way it looks, standing out starkly against the backdrop of the day's gloomy sky. Covering it up again makes the world look less brighter, makes Soonyoung blend in more with the pale greys and whites. However, a tuft of hair does stick endearingly through the closure in the back of his cap, a spike of orange that pokes out obnoxiously away from the rest of the white. Seokmin smiles at it and watches it flick back and forth in the wind as they walk back home.  
   
The next morning, he's awoken by Soonyoung yelling his name and jumping up and down excitedly. It makes the whole van shake. "Look, it turned out so well," he exclaims, pleased, and shoves his head in front of Seokmin's face.  
   
Seokmin reaches up, still half asleep, and brushes his fingers through Soonyoung's bright orange strands.  
   
"Soonyoung," he says, "my eyes hurt. Your hair is so bright. Why have you done this.” 

  


_________________ 

  
  


"What if my soulmate hates instant noodles and Coke?" Seokmin asks randomly one day as they're sitting around eating in the common room that serves as their hangout area, "Like, what if I love them and everything about them is perfect except they don't like instant noodles and Coke? Could I live without those two things for the rest of my life?"  
   
"No way is there someone who hates instant noodles and Coke in this world," Soonyoung dismisses, lowering his head to slurp at his noodles, "that's impossible. They're too tasty to hate."  
   
"That's how I feel about Fruit Loops, yet you exist."  
   
Soonyoung points his chopsticks at him, chewing noisily. "That's different. Fruit Loops are a trap. They look delicious and colourful but it's all a lie. A _lie_."  
   
Seokmin ignores him. "Even if they let me buy it and have it in the house, could I really go on loving them when they hate something that's so tasty? Would we have recurring arguments over whether it's disgusting or not? What if they really liked to eat sardines? I can't stand sardines!"  
   
"Shouldn't you worry about finding your soulmate first before all of these hypotheticals?"  
   
"I'm preparing for when I eventually find them," says Seokmin, and stares into the brown, soupy depths of his bowl, lost in thought.  
   
Worse yet, what if it's not his soulmate who doesn't fit him, but Seokmin who doesn't fit his soulmate? What if the problem is entirely his fault, and it just means that he's not compatible with anyone at all? Only a few people out of hundreds ever find out who their soulmate is and Seokmin has always wanted to be one of them, but what if after going through so much effort to find them, they turn out not to like each other and don't want to be together? What if he just finds an enemy, somebody that he hates and who will try to ruin his life?  
   
A super bossy, arrogant, Fruit Loop lover who only ever talked about themselves, would one-up anything anyone ever said, and hated anything to do with singing. And also liked eating sardines.  
   
Seokmin wrinkled his nose.  
   
"I think-" begins Soonyoung, then pauses to lick at smear of sauce on his upper lip. Seokmin waits impatiently for him to complete his sentence. "-that you should eat the rest of your food before it gets cold," finishes Soonyoung, and bends down for a mouthful of soup.  
   
Seokmin makes an annoyed face at him, one he doesn't think Soonyoung sees, but listens to him and starts eating. These are his favourite brand of noodles for a reason and he finishes them quickly, swallowing the last stray noodle just as Soonyoung stands up and brings his own plate to sit on top of the growing stack they're accumulating in the sink. (They'd initially agreed to share washing up duty, but since they'd lost track of whose turn it was this week they'd both been avoiding it and claiming it was the other person's turn.)  
   
"Besides, wouldn't different opinions of food be the least of your problems in a hypothetical relationship?" he says casually as he pokes his chopsticks into a gap between some old dishes, careful not to upset the tower, "I'd think that some bigger concerns would be stuff like, maybe you don't like each other's jobs or want different lifestyles or you like different kinds of candy." He gives his cup a cursory rinse and crouches to rummage around in their tiny fridge. "We're running out of Coke, I think."  
   
"Oh god, you're right," moans Seokmin, putting his head into his hands, "That's awful." His reflection in the metal plate stares back at him judgingly. _You would never make a good soulmate_ , it accuses, _You'd be awful. You just suck. A lot. Nobody's ever going to love you._  
   
"Yeah, I'm not sure how we're supposed to live off the two 2L bottles of unopened Coke we have left, but we kind of have to. We're kind of spending a lot more on this trip than I expected."  
   
"What do you mean?"  
   
"Our lifestyle right now isn't sustainable," says Soonyoung, fishing around in the space underneath the couch, "we don't really have much left. Aha." He drags out the large metal safe that he'd declared "Safeael, the Teen-paid Metal Nine-Litres Total" while showing Seokmin around the van. It was where they had stored their communal money for the duration of the trip, and the password was Soonyoung's birthday.  
   
Not that Seokmin knew this intimately because he'd been taking money from it to buy things that had caught his eye. Like a bird whistle. And a cool statue. And five bouncy balls.  
   
Okay, but he was allowed to, wasn't he? It was trip money, which meant money for the trip, which meant that he could spend it on trip things. And the bouncy balls were ever so bouncy. And _scented_.  
   
"So as you can see," says Soonyoung, hefting the box onto his shoulder with minimal effort and completely oblivious to Seokmin's internal struggle, "we might have to start cutting back a bit on buying stuff. Luxuries. Like Coke."  
   
Seokmin gulped.  
   
"Also, we'll probably have to live off all the instant noodles you bought for a bit instead of buying takeout as much as we've been doing previously. It's not a big deal," he adds, seeing the look on Seokmin's face and misreading it, "we can still get coffee. Just the cheapest stuff the baristas offer, I guess."  
   
Something about that sentence gives Seokmin the beginnings of an idea. "Hey wait a minute. Baristas. Coffee. Money."  
   
"Yeah, we pay the baristas whenever we get coffee. You didn't know this?"  
   
"No! I meant, baristas get paid money!"  
   
Soonyoung looks at him weirdly. "Uh huh. And your point is?"  
   
"If we find work as baristas, then we can both earn money _and_ look for our soulmates at the same time! You don't need to be the coffee-buyer, you can be the coffee-maker instead," crows Seokmin, and holds his hand up for a high-five.  
   
Soonyoung high-fives him. "Oh my god, you're a genius!"  
   
"I'm a genius!"  
   
"You are!"  
   
"I am!"

  


_________________ 

  
  


"I'm an idiot," says Seokmin, staring sightlessly at the opposite wall. He wasn't seeing the window and the kitchen sink that were there, but an endless loop of everything he'd done wrong at this morning's job interview at a café. What he had said about coffee beans and their benefits was going to haunt him until the day he died. "I'm such an idiot."  
   
"You are," replies Soonyoung gloomily from where he was sitting next to him, "but so am I. Both of us. We're both idiots." He had the same look on his face that he had had for a week after that time he'd confidently squirted "no tears" shampoo directly into his eye to prove a point.  
   
"Why is finding a job as a barista so hard?" Seokmin whines at nobody in particular, "Why are there never any vacant positions?"  
   
"Because every romantic wants to be a barista in this day and age in order to maybe find their soulmate. Case in point: us." Soonyoung flips through the jobs section in the local paper with a listless look on his face. "We don't even actually know anything about coffee. Maybe we should get another job first just so we don't run out of money and die? How's… working from home to earn up to $6,000 dollars and being your own boss with no experience necessary sound?"  
   
"Sounds like a scam, but you're right," mumbles Seokmin, "We don't know anything. We should just give up. There's no hope for us."  
   
"Wait, say that again."  
   
"There's no hope for us."  
   
"Before that."  
   
"We should just give up."  
   
"Before _that_."  
   
"We don't know anything."  
   
Soonyoung jumps to his feet. "That's it! We'll learn everything, become the best, and then they'll have no choice but to take us on because we'll be so devastatingly good at coffee that they can't pass us up."  
   
Seokmin flops sideways onto the couch and rolls to occupy the space where Soonyoung had been sitting. "But how do we do that? Do we have to convince someone to teach us now? Isn't that way more impossible?" he moans, voice slightly muffled by the cushions.  
   
"No." Soonyoung points dramatically outside the window, kicking the couch to hurry him up when Seokmin doesn't immediately roll over to look. "There. There is our next destination. There is where we will learn the art and become masters of the craft."  
   
"The men's toilets?"  
   
"Next to it."  
   
"The women's toilets?"  
   
"No, _next to the toilets_."  
   
"Ohhhhhh… the library?"  
   
"No, not the library. Not such a simple name for a place that boasts the combined knowledge of human civilisation, that which fosters young minds and primes them to become great as they were always meant to be, the heart and home of modern intellectual thinking."  
   
"So… the library."

  


_________________ 

  
  


"What do you mean, you need a fixed address to get a library card?"

  


_________________ 

  
  


"How did it go?" asks Soonyoung, opening the door of the van and coming inside.  
   
That's what Seokmin assumed he was doing from the sounds he was making, anyway. He wasn't about turn over from where he'd been lying with his face pressed into a pillow playing and replaying the highlight reel of his most embarrassing moments to find out. "Awful. Could not have gone worse. Could not have devalued me more as a human being. Could not have wasted and made useless all of my hours studying the entire coffee section in the library in a room with broken air conditioner and a person who felt the compulsive need to mumble while he was reading more if I'd dedicated the rest of my life to being someone who works at home for a multi-level marketing company. Actually, now that I've thought of it, I do believe I'll go and do that for a living now. Get me the local paper, Soonyoung, I'm becoming part of a pyramid scheme." And if fate so chooses that his words will be muffled and unheard, then so be it.  
   
Soonyoung does hear, apparently, because Seokmin hears footsteps that sound like they're getting closer. "Are you okay? Don't answer that, okay people don't want to join pyramid schemes fully cognisant of what they are." There's a pause. "This is more than just about jobs and being a barista, isn't it?"  
   
"Maybe." Seokmin doesn't move a muscle.  
   
"Come on, talk to me. I was plotting to take the last bottle of Coke for myself and drink it all in secret before you could get to it like I have been for the past week, but you came in yesterday, said 'Hey, I love you. You can have the last bottle of Coke. Sorry for even thinking about maybe trying to drink it all myself' then plopped it on the table and left. That's not like you. You didn't even finish your noodles last night. You just slid the bowl across to me and told me you were going to bed. Why are you letting me have everything?"  
   
"Because I love you and only want the best for you and haven't been expressing my appreciation properly these past years we've known each other."  
   
The side of the bed dips and Soonyoung puts a hand on the back of his knee. "I'd be more happy about that if you hadn't just spoken like you were giving a eulogy at someone's funeral. You didn't even buy that hairclip that had 8 different super specific functions that you were looking at so longingly. Usually you wouldn't even have let the salesperson finish their pitch before you bought something like that."  
   
"Don't slander my name, I'm a changed person now. I don't impulse buy things anymore. I'm sensible. And better."  
   
"You're miserable," says Soonyoung. "Buying stuff makes you happy. That's okay." He messes a little with a few strands of Seokmin's hair and then clips something in it with a snap. "Look what I have!"  
   
It takes a second to dawn on him, then he sits up fast to level a glare at Soonyoung. "What did you do that for!"  
   
"I… wanted you to be happy and feel better? That's not the reaction I was expecting. Unless you have a secret hatred of wearing hairclips but not necessarily owning them."  
   
"Congrats, I feel worse! I thought we were supposed to be cutting back on costs, not buying more stupidly expensive crap. And it's because of me." Seokmin curls his hands into the bedspread, aggravated. "I'm terrible and I'm awful. This is why none of the interviewers would take me. It's just _coffee_ and they still didn't want me. I bet this is setting the standard for the rest of my life. Nobody will ever want me. Ever."  
   
"I want you. Doesn't that count for anything?"  
   
Soonyoung misreads the look on Seokmin's face and holds up his hands placatingly. "I didn't mean it like that! I didn't mean it to sound like that, I meant more like, I care about you and I like being your friend and I want you to be around me and keep being around me forever so doesn't that count for anything? This proves that someone can want you! I bet that your soulmate will want you. I bet they'll love you! Who cares about what interviewers think? They don't know anything about who you really are as a person. I do, and I think you're great. If people don't like you for being yourself, it's because they suck. Not you." 

"You really think so?"  
   
"I'll be so happy to be around you forever. I like you so much. And I'm gonna prove it." Soonyoung takes a deep breath. "I'm gonna wash all the dishes that have been piling up in the sink. I don't care whose turn it is to wash them because I like you, so I'm just gonna suck it up and do it for you."  
   
The room is looking kind of blurry and wobbly. Seokmin sniffs and looks up at the ceiling. "You're really the best friend in the universe. I'm gonna help you do the dishes because I also like you and I'm your friend and I won't let you go through this alone. I'm here for you. Always." 

"I like you."

"I like you too."

"Come here, best friend," says Soonyoung, and leans in to pull Seokmin into a tight hug. "It'll be okay. You'll see." 

Just as they're drawing apart again, Soonyoung's eyes light up and he snaps his fingers. "You know what this calls for? A celebration. I have just the thing." He gets up and sticks his arm between his blankets to rummage around in his bed. "Aha!"  
   
"The Coke!"  
   
"I know! I didn't know what was up with you and felt bad about drinking it by myself, so I didn't. Let's have some!"  
   
The seal of the bottle is broken ceremoniously, and Soonyoung pours them both a full cup of soda. "To friendship," he intones, and they clink cups.  
   
"I've missed this," groans Seokmin.  
   
"I know, I almost broke and just guzzled all of it by myself several times."  
   
"I was talking about doing fun friend stuff with you instead of moping around and being stupid, but I like and understand you so I am sympathetic to your struggle. Also I can't say that I wouldn't have felt the same in your position."  
   
Soonyoung grins and pokes him playfully in the cheek. "Let's do fun friend stuff, then! We can watch movies and play card games and talk about stuff all night long."  
   
Seokmin pokes him back. "That's a great idea!" He drinks more soda a little too fast and blinks, eyes watering from the sting of the bubbles. "Hey, we can watch the sun come up if we stay up long enough. We've always talked about doing that at least once."  
   
"You're right," Soonyoung exclaims, "let's do it!"  
   
"I really like you so much," says Seokmin many, many, many, many hours later as they're sitting in the front seats of the van, watching the sun creep up sluggishly, "but what if I don't end up liking my soulmate? Or loving them? That's possible, you know. I don't even know what love _is_. What am I doing here?"  
   
"You're the one that suggested this trip in the first place," said Soonyoung, not accusingly, just sounding sort of surprised. "Love is… I dunno, you care about them? I guess?"  
   
"But what if they're dead, or they live in Austria, or something."  
   
"Is that where all the kangaroos are?"  
   
Seokmin ignores him. "I can't even point to Austria on a map. What if I have to go to Austria, Soonyoung?"  
   
"Then you have to take a plane, I guess. Unless it's possible to drive to Austria from here? I don't know where Austria is either, you know."  
   
"What would I do, in Austria? I can't speak Austrian. Is Austrian even a language?" Seokmin continues.  
   
Soonyoung shrugs. "Look it up on the internet or something. I don't know the answer to that one either."  
   
"But I don't even know if they're even in Austria. What if I just never find out? Or I do and I can't stand them because they're like that awful stuck-up customer we met or they can't stand me because I can't stop singing to every song ever and it annoys them so much? What if-"  
   
"Stop," says Soonyoung, and grabs Seokmin's head between his hands, "just stop. We don't know anything. Nothing in life is for sure. We can only hope for things to go for the way we want to. Saying what if this or maybe that will only mess you up." He lets go and reaches for another chip. "Besides, what if we meet them tomorrow or something? Good things might happen, too."  
   
"…that's pretty wise."  
   
"I am pretty wise, yes. Thank you for acknowledging that."  
   
"Explain what love is, then," Seokmin challenges.  
   
"Shut up." He sighs. "We can find out and learn together, okay? Just like the coffee stuff. We'll do it together."  
   
Seokmin is quiet. 

Soonyoung squints against the light of the sun as it rises, turning the horizon pink and yellow. The glare reflects off the right side mirror, illuminating Soonyoung look almost like another, smaller sun, the light filtering through the strands of his orange hair.  
   
"What if my soulmate has terrible choices in hair colour?"  
   
"Shut up and watch the sunrise, Seokmin."

  


_________________ 

  
  


Salvation comes in the form of a newly reopened café on the corner of a street. The owner had let all of his former workers go because he'd planned to extensively remodel the place, and was now searching for new workers. Soonyoung had had the fortune to bump into him in the cold aisle of the grocery store, where they'd then bonded over talk of Greek yoghurt.  
   
"And then afterwards Jisoo and I talked for a really long time and I told him all about us and then he said he'd hire us since we already know all the theory stuff, because it's more work to teach someone from scratch," Soonyoung had finished. "We're meeting him at his café in a few days for training with a coffee machine."  
   
"Soonyoungie, pizza," Seokmin had pleaded, brain completely focused on his stomach. Turns out, he'd gotten sick of the instant noodles before Soonyoung had. "I want pizza. Let's get pizza. I want to order pizza."  
   
"No. We're still trying to save money, remember?"  
   
"You said it was okay to buy stuff if it made me happy. This would make me happy. Think of the cheese. The way the sauce hits your tongue. The crunch of the crust. The tang of pepperoni, or grilled chicken, or beef.  
   
Soonyoung scowls. His mouth is definitely watering a little. " _No._ "  
   
"You bought Greek yoghurt, though. That's the expensive stuff. Why can't I have pizza?"  
   
"The yoghurt got us both jobs, so I'm calling that a negative expense. That is, it was more beneficial for our finances than it was a detriment."  
   
"But, pizza. Soonyoung, pizza. It's so delicious, pizza is. I love pizza. Don't you love pizza?"  
   
"Stop it. Stop saying 'pizza'."  
   
"Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza."  
   
"Oh god, I miss pizza. I don't care anymore, let's get it."  
   
"PIZZAAAAAAAAAAA!" Seokmin had shouted in victory.  
   
They'd then ordered three pizzas, gorged themselves, then returned to the dreaded room with broken air conditioning in the library in order to cram as much as possible before meeting Jisoo.  
   
The day of the training, they meet Jisoo in front of his café, christened "New Day" and located a block down from the beach. A CLOSED sign hangs visible through the glass of the door, but when Soonyoung peers through it Jisoo sees them and comes over to let them in.  
   
"Soonyoung and Seokmin, right? Come in. I'll just be a moment, I need to take care of some stuff in the back. Feel free to look around and familiarise yourselves," he says, and disappears into a door behind the counter.  
   
"You didn't tell me this place was so cool," Seokmin whispers, eyes wide as he takes in the décor.  
   
Soonyoung whispers, "I didn't know," back to him. It was true, he'd had no idea and Jisoo hadn't said much about the place to him. Just that it was a café and that it was his pride and joy, so naturally Soonyoung's brain had just cobbled together a vague amalgamation of all the cafés he'd been in up until this point in his life.  
   
His brain really hadn't done this place justice. The right side of the café's wall was painted like a sunrise, bright blue with yellow rays spanning out from the horizon. From there, it was a steady and gradual darkening of hues as the sunrise became a sunset on the left wall, a palette of blended purples and oranges and reds. The ceiling followed the transition, a pale baby blue shade on the right that bled into indigo on the left, with clouds interposed between the two sides. The wooden crates that served as seats were sprayed pastel shades under the morning sky, then gradually their colours became muted and dark as the room transitioned into an evening backdrop. Even the shades of brown on the wood grain of the tables was a spectrum going from light to dark. Complementing the shades of the sky were framed photographs of stunning landscapes placed on the wall every few metres, exactly the kind Soonyoung had seen in travel brochures advertising paradise. A flight of stairs sat in the corner farthest from the door, a sign with the words "STRICTLY NO ACCESS" written across it in a bold red.  
   
"This is the most beautiful café I have ever seen," Soonyoung says. Seokmin just nods in agreement, mute.  
   
"I'm flattered you think so," Jisoo chirps, coming back around from behind the counter and wiping his hands on his apron, "this place took me a very long time to create." He smiles at the both of them. "Anyway, hi, welcome to New Day. I'm the owner, Jisoo, as you know. Good to finally meet you, Seokmin."  
   
"We are both deeply grateful and in your debt," says Soonyoung very seriously.  
   
"Yes," agrees Seokmin.  
   
"Thank you for hiring us. We promise we'll do our best."  
   
"Yes."  
   
"You won't regret taking us on, I swear."  
   
"Yes."  
   
"Seokmin, can you say something else other than yes?" Soonyoung hisses, nudging him.  
   
"Sorry, I'm too scared to say anything that's not in the script in case I screw up."  
   
Jisoo laughs, thankfully, and doesn't just fire them on the spot. "Pleased to have you both on board."  
   
"Congratulations on the reopening, Mr Jisoo. Here's a café-warming gift," says Seokmin, and hands over the wrapped package of instant noodles. "It's like house-warming, except for cafés."  
   
"Oh, thank you. But please, just call me Jisoo. Are you two ready to start?"  
   
"Absolutely," says Soonyoung, "we can take anything you throw at us."  
   
Jisoo smiles. "Are you sure? I have pretty high standards."  
   
"Oh, yeah. We're sure." This angel who had gifted them both jobs and who smiled so nicely was definitely not going to work them very hard at all. Besides, how hard could making a few cups of coffee be?

  


_________________ 

  
  


"I want to say something bad about him but I can't because he's too sweet and genuine and kind even as he works us half to death," moans Soonyoung once Jisoo gives them a break and some very delicious food for lunch, "I can't even be mad. Even if every time I hinted about a quick break he just laughed it off and told us not to worry because he was fine. I wasn't worried about him, I was worried about _us_."  
   
"He's giving us our dream job and feeding us," mumbles Seokmin around his food, "what more can you want from someone, honestly? Are these blueberry muffins? They're so good, I could die eating these."  
   
"So good," Soonyoung agrees, "and everything's so pretty. It's impossible to be mad in such a pretty café. I'm so emotionally conflicted. Pass me the raspberry."  
   
"Hey, are you guys done?" Jisoo pokes his head around the café's doors, "I have a wonderful surprise for you both!"  
   
"Almost, we'll be right there."  
   
"Alright, take your time." He disappears back into the café humming to himself.  
   
"I'm terrified," murmurs Soonyoung around a mouthful of banana smoothie, "but we have to go back in there. There's no way around it."  
   
"I don't want to disappoint him," Seokmin sighs back, "His disappointed face makes me feel so guilty. It feels like you've let down your childhood hero, but he's not angry, just expected better from you. And is willing to go through things with you until you get it exactly right. Even if you mess up the first thirty times." He takes a long slurp from his caramel milkshake. "How is he so patient?"  
   
They finish their meal and step back into the café cautiously. Standing in front of them is a tall stranger with his arms crossed, glaring at Jisoo, who's got his hands clasped together and a mysterious box behind him with a mysterious plastic bag next to that. "I have a customer for you," he sing-songs, and gestures at the stranger. "Minghao, why don't you order something?"  
   
Minghao rolls his eyes. "Fine. Two lattes."  
   
"Aw, come on. Be creative!"  
   
"Fine. One chai latte, extra hot. One weak cappuccino, draw a something nice on it."  
   
"Oh, that's more difficult than I was expecting. But I'm sure they can handle it," chirps Jisoo, and smiles sweetly at them.  
   
Soonyoung thinks about his disappointed face and shivers from the memory of the last time he'd seen it. "Right. Of course we can. Seokmin, I'll take the chai latte."  
   
He takes his time and makes sure to get every step right, mindful of the sharp eyes on his back, watching his every move. Idly, he wonders if Minghao had just been a stranger passing by the café when Jisoo had charmed him off the street to use as a guinea pig. A few minutes later, he nervously presents the drink to Minghao, alongside Seokmin's cup with a clumsily drawn flower in the centre. Minghao takes a sip of each with his eyes closed and nods. "Mmm. Good. You both pass."  
   
"Yaaaaay! Good work, you two, let's celebrate." Jisoo turns to the box on the counter and opens it with a flourish, revealing a chocolate cake with strawberries and pink frosting on top. "Congratulations, you're both officially baristas at my café now."  
   
"Yaaaaay," repeats Minghao, deadpan, and starts to rummage around in the plastic bag. "Where's the knife? Oh yeah, here's the new draft of the café menu, Jisoo." He pulls out a folded sheet of paper and puts it on the table.  
   
Seokmin gasps. "It's adorable. The little pictures and the flowers are so cute. Oh my god."  
   
"Thanks. I made it."  
   
"You?!" exclaims Soonyoung, "but I thought Jisoo…?"  
   
Minghao snorts. "No way, Jisoo can't draw to save his life. The menu is entirely my work."  
   
"It's true," says Jisoo, smiling sheepishly, "The only thing I can do is latte art, honestly. The interior of the café was also designed and painted by him."  
   
"It's my job," Minghao says, "Of course I'd be better at it than you."  
   
Jisoo sticks his tongue out at him childishly, but Minghao isn't paying attention. "Aha. Found it."  
   
He cuts them each a slice of the cake, then another to put into takeaway boxes. "Have another a different day, or just eat it when you get home, I guess." He bags them and hands it to Soonyoung. "It'll keep for three days or so, but you should eat it soon." He looks over the both of them critically, then turns to Jisoo. "You worked them too hard. Couldn't you have done this thing over two days instead of one?"  
   
Jisoo shrugs.  
   
Minghao ignores him. "You two should go home and get some sleep," he says, clapping them both on the shoulders and steering them towards the exit, "you look like you could use some rest."  
   
"We're reopening on Monday," Jisoo calls from behind him, "Don't be late!"

  


_________________ 

  
  


"Can one of you take some coffee out to Minghao for me?" asks Jisoo, "The cup is over there, I wrote his name on it."  
   
They had been working at the café for about a week now, slowly getting used to the routine of working at the café. There had been some unexpected little things, such as the quirks of opening the cash register and getting used to writing literally every customer's name wrong somehow no matter how slowly they went, but overall it had been pretty smooth sailing. They were just finishing up, serving the last few customers before they closed, and Soonyoung seemed to be occupied by an elderly couple so Seokmin goes to pick up Minghao's coffee, scanning the names written on the cups cursorily to find the approximation of Minghao that Jisoo had probably written.  
   
Ah. There it was. He picks it up and begins to head over to Minghao, but freezes abruptly when he realises something.  
   
Seokmin waits for Soonyoung to walk by then grabs him. "Is this how Minghao's name is spelt?" he hisses.  
   
Soonyoung takes one look at the cup and looks up at him, alarmed. "I-I think it is. Do you think they know?"  
   
"They probably know? They've know each other for a long time, haven't they?"  
   
"But what if they don't? What if it's somehow exactly like I thought and Minghao just got pulled off the street by Jisoo a day before we had training and-" He cuts off as Seokmin holds up a hand to stop him. Over Soonyoung's head, he can see Minghao waving at them to come over. He casts a helpless look at Soonyoung.  
   
"Okay, you go to him. I'll distract Jisoo." Seokmin nods and heads over to Minghao's table.  
   
Minghao leans forward, looking concerned. "Are you two okay? If you need anything, just ask Jisoo about it. He won't mind, so don't worry about bothering him." He glances at the cup Seokmin is holding. "Oh, is that for me?"  
   
"Wait no come back I'll distract Minghao you go back to Jisoo- oh I guess it's too late now we're all doomed," Seokmin hears Soonyoung say, faintly in the distance.  
   
"No!" yelps Seokmin. He takes a deep breath and wraps both of his hands around the cup, covering the name on it. "It's not- uh, I forgot the order! I will go ask Jisoo about it, thanks for the suggestion. I will be going now. Bye Minghao!"  
   
Minghao eyes him. "Just put it down. I'm sure a week hasn't been enough for you to develop thick enough skin on your hands to be able to hold it like that for very long."  
   
Seokmin looks into his eyes, and realises abruptly that he's been defeated. He puts the cup down and steps away, wincing and shaking his hands to dissipate the heat. "Yep. You're right. That hurt."  
   
Minghao looks at the cup with his name on it, then into the cup where Jisoo's drawn an elaborate circle of hearts in the foam as well as a tiny M in the centre. He lifts it to blow on it to cool it and meets Seokmin's eyes over the lip. "You don't mean that you didn't realise Jisoo and I were soulmates before this?"  
   
"Aaaaaaah," says Seokmin, drawing out the sound. "So you knew. That is good. I am very glad that I did not have to explain that to you both."  
   
Minghao looks amused. "Yes. We know."  
   
"So… you are soulmates."  
   
"Yes."  
   
Seokmin looks from him, to Jisoo taking an order to another table all smiles and perfect customer service, then back again. The shock must show on his face, because Minghao laughs and says, "Yeah, I know, we're pretty different people." He shrugs.  
   
Seokmin blinks. "How long have you two been soulmates?"  
   
Minghao frowns. "Since we were born?"  
   
"No, I meant, how long have you known that the other was your soulmate?"  
   
He looks thoughtful. "Hmm… I think it's been seven years, now?"  
   
Seokmin's jaw tries to drop even more. "Seven years?!"  
   
"The anniversary's next month," Jisoo chimes in, weaving his way towards them between the tables, "It's going to be eight years." He slides into the seat next to Minghao and smiles at him, a bit shyly. Minghao looks away, looking almost embarrassed, but he shifts a bit in his seat so he's sitting closer to Jisoo.  
   
Seokmin's pretty sure that he's going to dislocate his jaw if it opens any wider.  
   
"I flipped the sign to CLOSED and took the chalkboard sign into the back. Anything else?" asks Soonyoung, coming over to them from the door. He takes one look at Jisoo and Minghao, who are now smiling at each other and taking turns to share the coffee and says, "No way."  
   
Seokmin catches his eye and nods, slow and serious.  
   
"No way! But they're so _different_."  
   
Jisoo sings, "It's love," and leans against Minghao's shoulder to smirk mischievously at both of them. Seokmin thinks that Soonyoung's eyes bug out a little.  
   
Minghao sighs, but doesn't push Jisoo off. "Stop teasing them."  
   
"I'll do whatever I want, darling."  
   
"You've never called me darling in all the seven years before this. Don't start now. It's gross. Don't you have things to be doing, other than trying to scare your hapless employees as much as possible?"  
   
Jisoo rolls his eyes and stands up. "Fine, fine. Ruin all my fun, why don't you. Laters, babe." He makes a heart symbol with his hands and goes to collect the dirty dishware.  
   
Minghao scowls after him. "Don't call me babe, either."  
   
Soonyoung is still in shock. "He said, 'It's love'. Did you hear him? Am I dreaming?"  
   
"He definitely said that."  
   
Soonyoung turns to Seokmin. "Do you think he knows what love is?" he asks, eyes shining.  
   
"He might! We should-"  
   
Minghao cuts him off with a sigh and sets down his coffee. "Look, love is… different for everyone. What it would mean for him isn't what it would mean for you. Nobody can tell you how to define it. You have to decide that for yourself." He glances at both of them meaningfully, and gets up to take the cup to the sink.

  


_________________ 

  
  


Minghao and Jisoo look a bit different, now that Seokmin knows that they're soulmates. There's more meaning to it when Jisoo bumps their hips together when he passes Minghao, more weight to Minghao's eyes on Jisoo's back. It's almost fascinating to see how Jisoo only needs to smile up at Minghao for him to grudgingly pass him a cup, watch Minghao pull his chair in to make way even before Jisoo has even gotten up from his. The care they have for each other shows in how Seokmin can never tell Minghao's mood before he's spoken to him, but Jisoo will easily say "oh, he's had a bad day" or "something good happened" and never seems to be wrong about it. Minghao will let Jisoo nap on his shoulder without complaint if he's tired, always sitting as still as he can so his soulmate can sleep longer. He always remembers Jisoo's appointments without fail, never forgetting to bring him his suit whenever he has business meetings or to tell him that he believes in him.  
   
Soonyoung watches them, too. Neither of them are very subtle about it, and maybe that's what finally makes up Jisoo's mind.  
   
"Come with me," he says, and he takes them to the area with the blocked off stairs and unclips the sign across it that says "STRICTLY NO ACCESS". "I want to show you both something." Behind him, Minghao gets up to follow, putting his magazine down on the table and sliding a corner under his briefcase to mark his place.  
   
The wooden steps are sturdy and firm under their feet and Jisoo runs a hand gently along the thick wooden banister as they go up, his eyes fixed on the nondescript door at the top of the stairs. He picks out a blue key with stars painted all over it and opens the door, gesturing for them to go in first. Inside, the curtains are drawn and the room is dark, the objects inside big shapeless blobs of black. Seokmin feels Soonyoung turn around, presumably to say something.  
   
Then Jisoo turns on the lights.  
   
The bulbs hang suspended in the middle of thin wire frames bent in the shape of a star, dangling in the middle of the blue-gray ceiling. They look like they're scattered haphazardly over the ceiling, but when Seokmin looks closer he can see that there's a pattern to them and that they're all labelled with the names of constellations. Planets and asteroids and comets and a rocket are painted on the large canvas of the far left wall, with glow-in-the-dark paint lining them and making their edges glow. Minghao's spiky signature is visible at the bottom corner of the wall where the rocket is painted, proud and clear.  
   
"Minghao and I are still trying to finish the furniture," Jisoo says, shutting the door behind them, "but we plan to do them in the same sort of spacey theme. We're also going to paint the stairs different shades of blue and draw clouds on them so it feels like you're making your way up through the skies. We're not done yet, but we hope to be able to open up this section soon."  
   
"It's lovely," says Seokmin. It sounds inadequate. Soonyoung doesn't say anything at all, just gapes, the awe clear on his face.  
   
"I've always wanted to do this." Jisoo admits, smiling quietly up at the ceiling, "I love space and the stars and the sky, so when we finally earned enough to do renovations on the second level, I couldn't help myself."  
   
"You always just do whatever you feel like doing," says Minghao, but there's no ire behind it, only a sort of exasperated fondness. "Took ages and ages and will take ages and ages more. But we definitely have the time."  
   
"Why did you bring us up here?" asks Seokmin, still trying to take in as much of the room as he can, "Why now and not before when you first hired us, or later when it's finished?"  
   
"I wanted to show you what you can do with love. Because there isn't just one kind," Jisoo exchanges a meaningful glance with Minghao, "and sometimes maybe it's incomplete and staring you in the face. You just have to find it. I love running this café. I love everything I've built here with Minghao. He doesn't love cafés, but he loves art and design and me. That's why this place exists."

  


_________________ 

  
  


"So… love, huh?"  
   
Soonyoung glances over at Seokmin, lying comfortably in his bed and decides he doesn't want to go through pulling down his suspended bed tonight. He lets himself go limp and flops on top of his friend, who lets out a grunt and rolls over to make space for him.  
   
"So… love, huh?" says Seokmin again.  
   
"I heard you the first time."  
   
"You didn't respond."  
   
"I was thinking about what to say."  
   
They fall silent again. Soonyoung hears Seokmin fiddling with the edges of the blanket, somewhere above his head.  
   
"If you had a soulmate that understood you but didn't like you," asked Seokmin, "what do you think they would be like?"  
   
Soonyoung considers this. "Hmmm. I think they would probably hate all the things I like about myself. They would understand why I do things the way I do, but hate it because they'd disagree with my methods. Probably." He tilts his head up towards Seokmin. "You?"  
   
"Similar. They'd probably think the same way as me but come to a different conclusion, somehow." He smiles ruefully. "It's the worst when your train of thought is the same, but you end up doing different things."  
   
"Why'd you ask?"  
   
"I'm just. Thinking. Minghao and Jisoo… they're really something."  
   
"Yeah?"  
   
Seokmin sighs. "I've always imagined meeting my soulmate to be this kind of… big event. My name gets written correctly, everyone gasps, the whole café applauds, we immediately hit it off super well and ride off happily into the sunset. But maybe it won't be big at all. Maybe it'll just be some Tuesday morning at a coffeeshop, they're just another customer in a long line of customers and neither of us even notices the name is correct at first. Though even that is way less probable that just straight up never finding my soulmate. But it probably won't be big or romantic however it happens, just ordinary. "  
   
"You mean like how Jisoo and Minghao act around each other."  
   
"Well… yeah. It's nice. They're happy together." Seokmin sits up to look down at Soonyoung. "Maybe that's what love is. A comfortable relationship with something."  
   
Soonyoung looks up at him, a tiny smile on his face. "Like doing the dishes for each other, or sharing the last bottle of Coke, you mean."  
   
"Mmmm. Maybe I love you, and maybe I don't need a soulmate at all if I have other things in my life that I care about."  
   
"Maybe I love you too."  
   
Seokmin is grinning. "I love you, my friend."  
   
"I love you too, friend."

  


_________________ 

  
  


"When are you going to tell them?" Jisoo looks up from where he's rising the dirty glasses in the sink.  
   
Across the counter, Minghao raises an eyebrow to punctuate the end of his sentence. Jisoo shrugs, holding in a smile. He can almost hear Minghao roll his eyes at him. A few metres away from them, Seokmin is resting his chin on Soonyoung's shoulder as they leaf through a book about baking together, borrowed with Jisoo's library card.  
   
Minghao is still looking at him, so Jisoo says, "I'd like them to find out themselves, really."  
   
"And you think this will take how long? I'd like to see the big reveal before I die of old age, thanks."  
   
Jisoo hides a smile. "They're getting there, I think. Slowly. But they are. They work in a café, I'm sure one day it'll come up that they have to write the other's name on a coffee cup."  
   
"Hmm," says Minghao, watching the pair contemplatively.  
   
Annoyed, Jisoo swats him on the shoulder with a tea towel. "Don't tell them! I can see you thinking about it. I won't forgive you if you do."  
   
Minghao looks at him, amused. "You're totally invested in this, aren't you? That's why you even hired them in the first place. And I bet you want to let them figure it out on their own because it happened the opposite way for us."  
   
Jisoo purses his lips at him, but doesn't deny it. "So what if I do?"  
   
"Fine, fine, I'll let you have your fun. You know I always do."  
   
"I know you do," teases Jisoo, "and I love you for it. You're always so sweet to me when nobody can see it."  
   
"Shut up," mumbles Minghao, but he's blushing a little as he turns away.  
   
Jisoo looks surprised then delighted, smirking wickedly. "Are you blushing?"  
   
" _No_."

  


_________________ 

  
  


On weekdays, Seokmin and Soonyoung wake each other up and go to work together at the café they're parked across the road from. Soonyoung no longer gets spooked out by the noises at night (though often he's too lazy to pull down his suspended bed and crawls into Seokmin's instead) so they're both ready for a comfortable day filled with coffee and cake and misspelt customer names. After their shifts are over, they'll say goodbye to their friends Jisoo and Minghao and head down to the beach where there are public showers. Sometimes one of them throws sand or seawater into the other's face and they spend a few hours chasing each other around on the sand first before returning to the campervan that is their home, and has been their home for a while now. They'll cook something for dinner, maybe even buy something if they both haven't had fast food in long enough. Nobody touches the third kitchen drawer from the left, because it's filled with the brand of instant noodles that they're both now sick of.  
   
Once in a while they'll get a call from family, reminding them they can stay as long as they want, asking them when they want to come home, and if they're having fun together.  
   
Their answer is always as follows: thank you, soon, and of course.

  


  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you to everyone who put up w me complaining about this fic for the entirety of the challenge djksnskjf y'all are stars and i love you sorry for forcing u all to read my stuff 50 times over
> 
> thank you to the big bang mods! for organising and also for answering my questions super quick y'all the best
> 
> and, thanks for reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for thanks a latte](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558189) by [svtbigbang_mod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/svtbigbang_mod/pseuds/svtbigbang_mod)




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